Days before the 2021 Enactus National Exposition, members of Durham College’s (DC) Enactus team received candy delivered to each of their homes. This is just one small example of how Heather Brown, president of EnactusDC, kept the team spirit alive and thriving before this major event – and throughout the year.
It’s an approach that paid off with EnactusDC achieving its most successful year ever.
The annual Enactus National Exposition is a showcase of student-led, community-based entrepreneurial projects developed and implemented by Enactus student leaders and teams across Canada. Teams are celebrated and awarded for their dedication to nurturing positive impact on recognized social, economic and environmental issues affecting communities.
Heather made DC proud with her unwavering leadership and resiliency as she supported EnactusDC to exceptional accomplishments at the competition this year. While many Enactus teams forfeited their participation due to the pandemic, Heather rallied her team to its best-ever rankings despite the challenges faced in a virtual world.
Out of more than 75 participating colleges/universities, the Enactus DC team made the semi-final round, placing in the top 20 teams in Canada for its projects: 3eeHive, True Grit, rCycle and ConnectUs 4 Community (CU4C). The team also received the Impact Through Innovation award for its dedicated efforts during the week-long competition.
“We demonstrated commitment to sustainable change,” Heather said. “Because of that, we were recognized with this award.”
To acknowledge her hard work, dedication and leadership, Heather received the prestigious Enactus Canada Gold Community Service Leadership Digital Badge for devoting more than 1,000 hours to Enactus DC projects.
The Enactus DC team also celebrated the RBC Future Launch Project Accelerator Best Project Award for project CU4C, an initiative that empowers high school students from Grades 9 to 12 to create clubs that solve community issues as they relate to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. The project extends the mission “Connecting Us and Uniting Communities” into high schools to inspire and engage next generation leaders to foster positive impact in their own communities. This year, more than 300 students took part in the pilot project, and CU4C aims to grow to more than 30 new clubs in the upcoming academic year.
For an overview of the Enactus DC’s projects, check out its Annual Report and Website.
Enactus is an international non-profit organization dedicated to creating social change through entrepreneurship. DC’s chapter was introduced to the college in 2016 through FastStartDC, the college’s entrepreneurial centre, to create a club of student leaders looking to make a positive economic and social impact on society.